Puppy
by suburbs
Summary: Caitlyn is not ready to commit to a puppy.


Disclaimer: I do not own Camp Rock.

Author's Note: This one probably doesn't focus enough on the main characters, so I apologize and will try and do better in the future. There was a request for Nate, Caitlyn, kids and a puppy. I got the message in the morning and saw the picture of Nick with the puppy at e-online later that evening, so it needed to be written. This is what came to me. Again, I apologize that it is not very good.

"Mommy, can we get a puppy?" Melody asked during dinner.

Caitlyn looked over at her daughter and sighed. The three-year old had asked for a puppy every day for the past two weeks, and every day Caitlyn gave her the same answer. "Sweetie, Mommy's not ready to get a dog right now."

"Please, Mommy," Melody pleaded with her mother.

"Honestly, I think you have a better chance of getting a little brother or sister at this point," Caitlyn mumbled wearily. She had finally gotten everyone potty-trained and sleeping through the night. The idea of house-training a dog seemed totally overwhelming. She was tired of always being the bad guy, but with Nate traveling so much, she knew it would all fall on her.

"Really?" Nate said excitedly. He had been trying to get Caitlyn to consider having another baby for a while. There was still one more baby in his "life plan," and he had not yet given up hope. The smile dropped off his face as he noticed Caitlyn glaring at him. He realized she was being sarcastic.

"If we are getting a puppy and a baby, can I get a kitten?" Annabelle asked.

Caitlyn looked around the table at her family in disbelief. "You all know that if we got a puppy, a kitten and a baby Mommy would go crazy, right? Certifiable, locked in a padded room, crazy?"

Nate realized that this conversation was not going well and quickly changed the subject. "Melody and Annabelle, how about you finish up your broccoli, and then we can go get some ice cream for dessert."

The girls responded by quickly shoving a piece of broccoli in their mouths. Nate sighed with relief – crisis averted.

The next morning when Melody came downstairs for breakfast, she told Caitlyn, "Mommy, I don't need a dog anymore. I'm going to be a dog."

"A dog, huh?" Caitlyn said. She was actually getting pretty used to this sort of announcement from her children. They usually occurred after the girls had spent time with Jason who was great at pretend, and the game only lasted for a day or so. In the past, the girls had been princesses, aliens and toucans; a dog was a new one.

"Yup. Call me Puppy Andy," Melody said.

Caitlyn looked at her daughter thoughtfully before replying, "Okay, that sounds good, but you still have to sit at the table and eat like a little girl. Is it a deal?" Melody nodded her head.

"Great! What does Puppy Andy want for breakfast?"

"Woof," Melody replied. At that moment, Nate came into the room. "Why is Melody barking?"

"Not Melody," the three-year old replied. "Puppy Andy!"

Nate gave his wife a confused look. Caitlyn smiled as she explained, "Melody decided that we don't need to get a dog because she could just pretend to be one. Her new name is Puppy Andy."

Nate accepted this announcement and patted Melody on the head. "Good dog."

At first everyone thought that Puppy Andy was adorable. Mitchie and Shane wrote a "Puppy Andy" theme song, and Jason and Peggy made her bone-shaped cookies. Even Annabelle got into the act; she liked to put her little sister on a "leash" and take her for walks around the house. Caitlyn insisted that Annabelle not put anything around Melody's neck, and it seemed to entertain both of the girls. After a month, though, the barking and panting got a little annoying, and Melody started to take the game very seriously.

One afternoon when Caitlyn was picking Melody up from preschool, she found her daughter scowling in the corner. Caitlyn gave the teachers a questioning look before heading over to talk to Melody. "Hi, sweetie. Is something wrong?"

"They keep calling me Melody," the little girl grumbled.

"That's your name," Caitlyn said.

"No! I'm Puppy Andy. I want them to call me Puppy Andy," Melody said before bursting into tears. Caitlyn scooped up her daughter and carried her out to the car. As she buckled Melody into her car seat, she tried to reason with her. "Melody, the puppy game is for home. At school, you still need to be a little girl. Dogs don't go to school."

"Woof," Melody replied. "I'm Puppy Andy."

Caitlyn sighed and closed the door.

After they had picked Annabelle up from school and headed home, Caitlyn called Nate at the studio where he was helping produce a song for a new artist. "Melody cried when I picked her up at school today because her teachers wouldn't call her Puppy Andy," she announced.

Nate laughed.

"Nate, this isn't funny. She's taking this way too far," Caitlyn stated.

"Don't you think that you are overreacting a little?" Nate asked. "I mean, she's three. She gets upset when they play a Backyardigan episode she's already seen. It's just a phase; she'll get over it soon."

"That's easy for you to say. She's not barking at you all day," Caitlyn snapped.

Nate was quiet for a moment. He knew his wife well enough to know that she was near a breaking point. "How about we sit down tonight and come up with a plan. Okay?"

Caitlyn calmed down a little, "Alright. Sorry I snapped at you. Love you."

"I love you, too, Caity. Don't worry too much. When you and I work together, we can pretty much handle anything."

That night Nate and Caitlyn had a long talk. Nate agreed to do all the research to find a puppy and to help with the training before he left on the next tour. Before breakfast, they sat Melody down for a discussion.

"Melody, Mommy and Daddy talked last night, and we want to make a deal with you. How about if we trade Puppy Andy for a real puppy?" Caitlyn said.

Melody and Annabelle both looked at their parents in surprise. "A real puppy?" Melody asked.

Nate nodded, "But if we get a real puppy, then we would need you to be a big girl and help take care of it. So you couldn't be Puppy Andy anymore."

Melody sat thinking quietly for a few minutes before smiling up at her parents. "Okay. Can we get a golden retriever?"

Caitlyn and Nate looked at each other. "Sure, baby," Nate replied.

Annabelle had been strangely quiet during the entire discussion. She looked carefully at her parents before grinning. "Meow."


End file.
